Definition of reconnaissance
: a preliminary survey to gain information; especially : an exploratory military survey of enemy territory
From the M-W Editors
Examples of reconnaissance in a Sentence
There are two helicopters available for reconnaissance.
They did a reconnaissance of the enemy's position.
Recent Examples of reconnaissance from the Web
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A tornado touched down at the air base, damaging seven RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft.
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One of his projects was flying reconnaissance drones off the coast of China that eavesdropped on radio traffic.
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Germany already has three earlier versions of the Heron reconnaissance drone which are deployed in Afghanistan.
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In an April 2015 email, Azima wrote to Solomon about a proposal for a $725 million air-operations, surveillance and reconnaissance support contract with the United Arab Emirates that would allow planes to spy on activity inside nearby Iran.
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Australian reconnaissance aircraft and refueling tankers have been moved out of Syrian airspace, paralleling what the United States and other coalition members have done.
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WASHINGTON—A Russian jet fighter buzzed an American reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea Monday, coming within yards of the American plane, U.S. defense officials said.
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An armed Russian fighter jet intercepted a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea on Monday, three U.S. defense officials told NBC News.
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Late Monday aerial reconnaissance determined that a disturbance near the Venezuelan coast merited a name, Bret.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'reconnaissance.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of reconnaissance
French, literally, recognition, from Middle French reconoissance, from Old French reconoistre to recognize
RECONNAISSANCE Defined for English Language Learners
reconnaissance
playDefinition of reconnaissance for English Language Learners
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: military activity in which soldiers, airplanes, etc., are sent to find out information about an enemy
RECONNAISSANCE Defined for Kids
reconnaissance
playDefinition of reconnaissance for Students
: a survey (as of enemy territory) to get information
Learn More about reconnaissance
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Spanish Central: Translation of reconnaissance Nglish: Translation of reconnaissance for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of reconnaissance for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about reconnaissance
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